Thursday preview: BoE, Close Brothers Group in focus

(Sharecast News) - The market spotlight on Thursday will be firmly on the Bank of England as rate-setters meet to decide on policy. Bank Rate is expected to remain unchanged, but this time only two of the Monetary Policy Committee's nine members are expected to have voted for a cut, as opposed to four last time.

The policy announcement is scheduled for 1100 BST.

Later in the day, at 1230 BST, investors will be waiting on the latest US weekly jobless claims figures.

In parallel, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia will release the results of its closely followed regional factory survey.

In company news, merchant banker Close Brothers Group will release its full-year results.

UBS's Sanjena Dadawala anticipates that it will post a 22% decline in second half underlying profits to reach £73m, as higher costs and impairment charges more than offset income growth.

The analyst cited loan pricing and fee trends, cost growth, asset quality, and the fiscal year 2025 outlook for net interest margins in banking among some of the items that investors were expected to focus on.